Good News… Bad News
I am sure you’ve had someone say “I have good news and bad news for you, which would you like first?” In my case I tend to lean toward wanting to get the bad news out of the way.
Bad News.
The Bahamas has announced that it will soon start drilling for oil off its coast by approving the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) plans to build its first deep water well. BPC predicts that it hopes to harvest at least 2 billion barrels of oil. The first well, named Perseverance # 1, will be located about 100 miles from Andros Island and 150 miles from South Florida. It’s been reported that BPC has five licenses for offshore drilling over about 4 million acres, one of which is about 50 miles from Miami. How anyone thinks this is a good idea (other than the oil company and those that have paid or been paid off), I can’t imagine but it’s really, really bad news.
Last year Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas and caused over $3 billion in damage while killing 67 people. Scientists predict that as our climate continues to warm we should expect an increase in the number and intensity of such storms so it seems to me that building oil drilling rigs right in the middle of the most prolific hurricane zone on earth is a really bad idea. It’s a bad idea given the environmental catastrophe an oil spill can cause (anyone remember the Deepwater Horizon spill from 2016?).
And it seems to me that it’s a really bad idea for an island nation that is at risk of extinction in a world of rising seas. How in the world could the Bahamian government, no matter how much money they might reap, add to the very problem that threatens them? If that’s not stupid, I don’t know what is. Tragically stupid.
Good News.
Bravo to Virginia lawmakers for passing what is being called a “historic step towards addressing climate change”. Virginia’s state senate, led by a newly elected Democratic majority, passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a law that plans to get that state to 100% clean electricity and zero carbon emissions by 2045.
The new law intends to dramatically expand on and offshore wind generation, solar power use, and battery storage technology while also creating thousands of jobs. The law also intends to demand that regulated utilities, including the state’s largest provider Dominion Energy, meet aggressive efficiency requirements, set annual goals for the use of renewable power, and remove historic roadblocks to rooftop and shared solar energy. You can read more about the new law here and here.
So how about it Governor DeSantis? What do you say the State of Florida stops protecting FP&L and other regulated power companies from controlling solar and we create a law like Virginia’s along with the added enhancement that we begin eliminating (outlawing) fossil fuel use? The Sunshine State sure could use leadership like what’s happening in Virginia and having such steps take place here in Florida would be some very good news indeed.